Catalina Swap

We biked to Sombrero Beach only to discover that the south side of the bike path has been totally cleared of vegetation and million dollar homes and townhouses are being constructed. They are all shipped in as modules and then assembled on stilts. We took a tour and then brought the dinghy into the canal on Sunday to see the backs of the houses. The iguanas will have nowhere to hide.....

We did it again, a straight run from Miami to Marathon in 13 hours on Hawk Channel. We had a great sail but had to put in after dark outside the harbor across from Seven Mile Bridge. It seems that we are always running ahead of bad weather. The winds were supposed to increase and blow from the east....We arrived in the south anchorage on Valentine's Day and found a good spot for the boat but it is far from the marina. Good thing we have a dry dinghy. We are #60 on the waiting list for a mooring ball. The dinghy dock is full but today's sunrise was beautiful!

We left our mooring ball at Vero Beach City Marina this morning and headed out Ft. Pierce inlet around 9:00 AM only to be met with north winds and breaking waves on the jetty so we headed back to the ICW. Eight bridges and many miles later we are anchored in Lake Worth ready to head out again tomorrow. We encountered lots of dredging to the west of Peanut Island. The deep water is very close to the dredge. Here is a photo of the south end of Peanut Island with the high

We have had the good fortune to see many cruising friends this year as they stop here in Vero for a few days of rest and re-provisioning. Today we drove Rich and Anna to Ft. Pierce to shop at the giant marine warehouse filled with everything a boat could ever want or need.....cushions, line, anchors, sunbrella, stainless, toilets, cabinets,,,, What a great store!

It has been a very busy fall for us with many changes in our lives. We bought a retirement home in Vero Beach and closed in early October. At the same time my mom moved back to the east coast from Denver and is living with us here in Florida. Suzi Jordan, my sister-in-law, flew in from Colorado to stay with Mom while we move our boat south. We are presently aboard Waves of Grace heading to Vero Beach City Marina after a challenging sail from Green Cove Springs and down the St. John's River. The RR Bridge in JAX was scheduled to close Dec. 7th for a week for ongoing repairs so we needed to move the boat before Monday. At the last minute, Larry MacDonald offered to help Walt get the boat down the St. John's River til Suzi arrived from Denver but as they approached the RR Bridge on Sunday, it broke. Two hours later it opened part way and Walt managed to squeeze the boat thru the opening.....Suzi drove me to St. Augustine on Monday and drove Larry back to Vero.....Walt and I will be taking a mooring ball today in Vero til Feb 1st. Wow!

We had a great night in Key Biscayne and headed into the ocean for the anchorage in Lake Worth. We then sailed back into the ocean but came in the St. Lucie Inlet because Ft. Pierce was closed due to salvage operations. We stayed in Vero Beach for a week and then took a ball in the south field at St. Augustine for Palm Sunday. Today we are in JAX Landing for a few days before heading to Green Cove Springs. Walt enjoyed touring the Castillo San Marcos in St. Augustine and we both enjoyed the restored Basilica there......but the tourists were everywhere....wow, what crowds!

We spent one night in the Boot Key anchorage and at 10:30 we were filling up with diesel and water at Burdines. We received our free french fries and free ice to head out into Hawk Channel in the most glorious turquoise water I had ever seen. The water was stunning. Since it was a Sunday there were lots of boats enjoying a sail. We anchored at Rodriguez and on Monday we continued on to Key Biscayne. Nine boats anchored with us just outside of No Name Harbor.

We had a very long day of motor sailing from Cape Coral to Indian Key in 14-20 knots of wind ESE almost on the nose. We came in using the marked channel leading to Everglades City which initially is quite wide. We anchored near the east side in just 9 feet of water and had a very quiet night. Here is the sunset which was beautiful. We were amazed at how quiet and lovely this spot was after such wind and waves all day in the Gulf.

We learned that it was easy to sail to the Dry Tortugas but difficult to sail back to the Keys. Boats kept arriving but nobody could leave except for the planes and the Key West Fast Ferry......Finally we decided to give it a try and sailed out in 10-15 knots from the east with 4-5 waves. We headed to Key West but could only do 3 knots. We changed our course to Marco but it was still slow so we headed to Cape Coral and sailed all day and night. We came in on Tuesday morning at 5:00 and decided to anchor. When we turned on the engine we knew something was wrong......We anchored, turned off the engine and after 21 hours with no sleep Walt replaced the blown impeller. Wow, off to anchor in front of the Westin Hotel where we stayed for 3 days. Larry Stange, a cruising friend who now lives in Cape Coral, brought us a beautiful red, white and blue cruising spinnaker and whisker pole plus SSB radio. Thanks, Larry! We also went to Rumrunners on the Cape Coral waterfront to have lunch with colleagues from Dansville, Pat & Jack, and Sandy. Shafers visited our boat later.

The Dry Tortugas has been on our bucket list for a long time but it is difficult to sail to and from in the prevailing winter easterlies. We decided to give it a try this year and sure enough it was an easy 70 mile sail from Key West in SE winds of 15 knots but every day there the winds blew at 20-24 from the east.......impossible for us to return to Key West! Fort Jefferson is an amazing fort, the biggest US masonry fort ever built. We toured the fort, walked the beaches, snorkeled, greeted Lyle the Crocodile who hung out in the moats during the day, saw the sooty tern nesting areas, and watched a 10' Goliath Grouper swim under our boat. When we anchored on Thursday, there were only 3 other boats but when we left on Monday there were 11 sailboats, a trawler and 5 fishing boats. Every morning we saw two seaplanes land with tourists and then the Dry Tortugas Ferry came over from Key West for the day with visitors. This is an amazing destination with beautiful vistas and a rich history-don't miss it!

About Me

Walt and I have been avid sailors for 38 years. Our retirement dream was to sail to Florida and the Bahamas for the winter months which we did for the first time last year, 2007-2008. We decided that we loved the cruising life
and four days after our return to Lake Ontario we traded our Catalina 320, Eagle's Wings, in for a Catalina 42 which we named Waves of Grace. We hope to continue to cruise in the Florida Keys, Gulf of Mexico, and the Bahamas for many years to come